Author: Tom Meyer

Tom Meyer is the Alliance's Membership Coordinator and Webmaster. His email address is tmeyer@thinkhomecare.org.

Guest Post: Flu Activity

By: Donna Lazorik, RN, MS
Deputy Program Manager for Program Development, Immunization Program
Massachusetts Dept. Public Health

National Flu Activity

Flu activity continues to increase in the U.S., according to CDC’s latest FluView report.  “Reports of influenza-like-illness (ILI) are nearing what have been peak levels during moderately severe seasons,” according to Dr. Joe Bresee, Chief of the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch in CDC’s Influenza Division.  “Anyone who has not already been vaccinated should do so now,”

While the timing of flu seasons is impossible to predict, based on past experience it’s likely that flu activity will continue for some time.  During the past 10 seasons, ILI remained at or above baseline for an average of 12 consecutive weeks.  One factor that may indicate increased severity this season is that the predominant circulating type of influenza virus is influenza A (H3N2) viruses, which account for about 76% of the viruses reported.  Bresee explains “typically ‘H3N2 seasons’ have been more severe, with higher numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, but we will have to see how the season plays out.” Continue reading “Guest Post: Flu Activity”

Guest Post: Think Like a Home Care Professional

By: Patricia O’Brien, MBA, MS, RN, Executive Director of Hebrew Senior Life.

Re-posted with permission from Hebrew SeniorLife Blog.

The Five Minute Assessment Families Can Do

Elder At Home A loose railing. A dusty table. Expired milk in the refrigerator. These can all seem like simple problems, but may actually be signs of bigger issues for seniors. That loose railing can mean difficulty making it up stairs. Ignored dust can hint at eye sight trouble or that house work has become too strenuous. Expired food can mean a senior is not getting the right nutrition or simply needs help getting to the store more often.

It’s these small things that affect a senior’s quality of life in a big way. I’m proud that our staff at HSL is trained to immediately notice issues, big and small, and offer advice to improve a myriad of situations relating to senior home health care. Within five minutes of visiting a senior, home care professionals have completed an environmental assessment that includes potential safety risks or signs of potential problems.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Think Like a Home Care Professional”

Introducing the Caregiver Video Resource Center

Working with families is an integral part of home care agencies do. Unlike most other forms of healthcare, their work is done in their clients’ residences and often alongside the 65,000,000 family members, friends, and neighbors who help care for an elderly or disabled person at home.

To help care providers understand what an agency can do for their loved one, the Alliance has produced a series of short, instructional videos with ElderCareSKILLS.org. The videos feature a variety of home health professionals including nurses, therapists, owners, and home care aides answering the most common questions families ask.

Each Monday, we will feature a new video here on the newsfeed.  In the first, Geoffrey Abraskin, PT, DPT of Amedisys Home Health discusses the basics of choosing a home care agency:

There are currently nine videos available both at www.thinkhomecare.org/videos, and on the Alliance’s YouTube channel, with additional ones planned.  You can also subscribe to  ElderCareSKILLS to access these and hundreds of additional videos designed for family caregivers.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Four Reasons to Choose An Agency Over A Direct Hire

This month, the Alliance is mailing nearly 5,000 copies of its latest publication, 4 Reasons to Choose An Agency Over A Direct Hire to every Council on Aging (COA) and Aging Access Service Point (ASAP) in the state.  Additionally, packages of up to 50 copies of the brochure are available on the Alliance’s website at no charge.

This postcard-sized brochure is professionally printed on heavy card stock and is intended for families uncertain why they should choose an agency.  On the front, it describes four areas where home care agencies have a distinct advantage over direct hires; on the anterior, it provides a “Quality Home Care Checklist” to help visualize these benefits.

Front page Anterior side

The full text of the front page reads:

Why should your family work with a Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts member agency rather than hire an aide or nurse directly? Home care agencies provide significant benefits over direct hires in the areas that matter most to families:

    1. Employer Obligations: By hiring an aide or nurse directly, you take on the legal responsibilities of an employer, including paying payroll taxes, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and liability. Working with a Home Care Agency alleviates you of these responsibilities.
    2. Peace of Mind: The only background checks that come with a direct hire are those you do yourself. Home Care Agencies, however, are required to conduct criminal background checks and have access to more comprehensive data than is available to the public.
    3. Security & Contingency: If your direct hire harms or steals from you, you’re on your own. In contrast, Home Care Agencies are required to carry various forms of insurance to protect you. Additionally, agencies can quickly provide a replacement if your aide or nurse is sick, injured, or changes jobs.
    4. Training & Supervision: You are responsible for training and supervising your direct hire. Home Care Agencies, however, have the experience, knowledge, and resources to ensure their workers are thoroughly trained in any services or tasks they perform, including safe infection control, falls prevention, emergency preparation, and personal care tasks.

How do you know an Agency is doing these things correctly? Don’t be afraid to ask them directly, or check to see if they’re a member of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts at http://www.thinkhomecare.org/agencies.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2013 Private Care Guides Available

The Alliance will begin shipping copies of its new 2013 Guide to Private Home Care Services next week.

The Guide is designed to educate clients and families about their private home care options and to help them choose from our 132 member agencies that accept private pay, including those who have completed our Agency Accreditation Program.  Contents include:

  • Introduction:
    • Understanding What Home Care Is;
    • Understanding the Agency Advantage (New!);
    • Assessing Your Needs;
    • Exploring Payment Options;
    • Knowing About Agency Accreditation;
    • Finding & Interviewing Agencies;
  • Agency Profiles of 132 Private Care Agencies
  • County-By-County Cross Reference

The Alliance will ship copies of the Guide to all members, as well as every hospital case management office, Aging Service Access Point (ASAP), Council on Aging (COA), Geriatric Care Manager (GCM), Veterans’ Center, and dozens of other referral sources. Additional copies are available for order on our website, as is a downloadable PDF version. Guides are always available free of charge with no shipping charges on copies of 50 or less.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Enhanced Agency GoogleMap Now Available

With 200 member agencies across the state, there’s a Home Care Alliance member near just about everyone.

Now, the Alliance is pleased to announce an improved referral tool to show exactly how close on GoogleMaps:


By clicking on an icon, the map provides contact information about each member while letting you know whether it accepts Private Care, is Medicare Certified, and/or Accredited by the Home Care Alliance.

In it’s current form, the map shows the physical locations of our members.  To do a detailed search by Service Area — i.e., where agencies actually serve — and service type, you can still rely on our Find-An-Agency Search.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

How Home Care Helps During Disasters

ABC News has some tremendous footage of home care agencies, the National Guard, and other first responders doing what they do best: caring for their clients, no matter the circumstances.

Our thoughts and prayers go to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

NEW! Validated and Multi-factorial Falls Risk Assessment Tool

The Missouri Alliance for Home Care (MAHC) has developed a multi-factorial Fall Risk Assessment Tool (MAHC-10) that has been studied and recently validated. The MAHC-10 has been scientifically tested and the validation study published.  Agencies may now use just the MAHC-10 alone to meet the OASIS requirement. .

In a Press Release posted October 9, 2012, MAHC reports “Home health agencies will now be able to meet the OASIS requirements utilizing the MAHC-10 as an initial screen for fall risk… This single tool can be used with all patients, including bed-bound patients and those with severe mobility limitations, thereby meeting CMS criteria to mark a ‘yes’ response on M1910.”

Agencies may use the MAHC-10, including incorporating it into internal documents and computer systems, at no cost, however, Missouri Alliance for Home Care  requires that proper credit be given to MAHC and that the content is not modified in any way.   For more information visit the MACH website

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

The Alliance’s Colleen Bayard on the the Affordable Care Act

Colleen Bayard, the Alliance’s director of regulatory & clinical and regulatory affairs, spoke to WWLP News 22 this week about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on seniors in Massachusetts.

BOSTON (WWLP) – Government health officials say that President Obama’s national health care reform law is saving Massachusetts seniors big bucks.

Federal officials say the 2010 law has helped save Massachusetts seniors more than $76 million on medication bills this year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicessays in the first eight months of this year, the Affordable Care Act has saved seniors in Medicare’s “donut hole” about $610 dollars. Previously, when seniors were in this “donut hole” they would go from making copayments for their drugs to paying 100 percent of the cost.

The law gives them significant discounts.

“There’s actually extra funding for medications for seniors,” said Colleen Bayard, the Clinical Affairs Director for the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

“They may not have enough money for their medications and it becomes unaffordable, but I think they’re trying to, they made changes with the medication in Medicare D to help with that.”

The average savings for a Massachusetts resident with Medicare will be $5,000. People with high prescriptions costs will save more than $18,000 from 2010 to 2022.

2012 Annual Report: This We Know For Sure

The Alliance’s 2012 Annual report This We Know For Sure is now available for digital download from our website.  Learn  about both the Alliance’s vision for the future, and help us celebrate this past year’s successes, including:
  • Sponsorship of our  first Innovation Showcase;
  • The re-launch of our Job Bank as the New England Home Health Career Center;
  • Work on Wage and Hour Issues, especially those related to overtime and live-in care;
  • Development of new programs through the Foundation for Home Health, including an interactive video presentation on the “Art of the Home Care Admission Visit,” as well as trainings for ICD-9-CM coding and OASIS–C.
  • Sponsorship of a Western Mass RWJ grant on developing a care transitions curriculum for nurses.
  • Assistance in navigating changes to the CORI process and new parameters around free access for agencies with state contracts;
  • Expansion of the Boston Parking Placard Program;
  • Redesign of the Resource Directory and “Find an Agency” web search;
  • Revamp of the Agency Accreditation Program
  • Leadership on proposals to reject efforts to impose a co-payment on Medicare home health;
  • Negotiation a significant change in state Medicaid policy in delaying any TPL recoupments;
  • Plans to revise and dovetail the Home Health Universal Authorization Form;
  • Sponsorship of Lobby Day to bring members together with legislators to advance telehealth, changes to nurse delegation practices and a state certificate of need process; and
  • Assembled and distributed a series of “Keeping It Legal” policy statements on Patient Choice, Illegal Inducements and the Medicare Face  to Face Rules;

…and others!  Download the PDF today to find out more.